SPOKANE, Wash. — After going 3-0 on their first homestand of the season and jumping to the top of the U.S. Division and Western Conference of the Western Hockey League with a 5-1 record and 10 points, the Chiefs put their first place standing on the line as they headed out on their longest road trip of the season. Spokane headed to the prairies of Saskatchewan and Manitoba in Central Canada as they got ready to play six games in 10 days. The last time the Chiefs went east, they went just 1-5 during a 15 win season.
Spokane was looking to change all that this time around but would have to do so as they were short handed three forwards who were down to injury. Dane Pyatt, Coco Armstrong and Rasmus Ekstrom were on the long term injured list, although Ekstrom made the trip and practiced with the team. Forward Asanali Sarkenov was unable to make the trip as his visa issues to enter Canada were still unresolved, so Spokane was definitely going to be short handed up front for this demanding six game road swing.
First up on the trip was the Prince Albert Raiders, a team that had beaten the Chiefs four straight times and had not lost to Spokane since November of 2017. The last time the Chiefs had won in Prince Albert was October of 2016, so the club was more than anxious to snap that losing skein and get their road trip off to a good start. Spokane also knew Portland and Everett were playing well, having both won on Tuesday to tie the Chiefs for the top spot in the U.S. heading into Wednesday's opener for Spokane.
With the shortage at forward, the team brought up this year's #1 pick in the bantam draft, Ossie McIntyre, to play his third game of his young career on Wednesday. The Chiefs would be on the defensive much of the first period as defenseman Saige Weinstein was assessed a five minute major penalty and a game misconduct midway through the first period as Prince Albert was awarded a five minute power play. The Chiefs penalty kill, which was ranked just 15th out of 22 teams in the league, would come up huge as they went 2-2 and killed off seven minutes on the Raiders power play in the opening 20 minutes. Goalie Dawson Cowan turned aside 11 Prince Albert shots in the first as the game headed to the second period 0-0.
Spokane's offense would get rolling in the second as the Chiefs would outshoot Prince Albert 23-6 in the period. Raiders goalie Max Hildebrand was superb in the period though as he stoned the Chiefs through the first 3/4 of the second to keep the game scoreless. The Chiefs would finally find a way to break through late in the frame as rookie Brody Gillespie scored his first career goal at 15:53 on assists from McIntyre and Owen Schoettler to give Spokane a 1-0 lead after two. It was McIntyre's second assist in three career games as the Chiefs rookie continues to impress. Spokane outshot the Raiders again in the third by a 14-10 margin and would wrap up the shutout win as Owen Martin scored his 4th of the year and 3rd in his last two games with an empty net goal in the final minute in a 2-0 Chiefs victory.
Dawson Cowan picked up 27 saves in the shutout victory as Spokane extended their winning streak to five straight, their longest since March of the 2019-20 season when they ripped off 10 straight before the pandemic hit. Both Everett and Portland won though, so the Chiefs remained in a three way tie for first with 12 points as they headed for their second game of the road trip with a journey to Saskatoon on Friday night. Spokane had dropped two straight to the Blades, including a 2-0 shutout loss last season at the Spokane Arena. The Chiefs were happy to welcome back Rasmus Ekstrom from his injury but were without defenseman Saige Weinstein, who was serving a suspension for his penalty at Prince Albert Wednesday.
Friday's game at Saskatoon was a back and forth first period as the Chiefs outshot the Blades 15-10 but neither team was able to get on the scoresheet as it was a 0-0 game heading to the second. Spokane got the first power play of the game early in the second and would convert as Berkly Catton scored in his hometown 3:43 into the period to make it 1-0 Chiefs. That lead would hold until late in the frame when Saskatoon broke through on a rebound scramble with less than four and a half minutes remaining in the period to tie the game at 1-1 heading into the third.
Saskatoon would come out and dominate the third as they would outshoot the Chiefs 13-1 in the final 20 minutes and would snap the tie on a goal midway through the third to take a 2-1 lead. It would turn out to be the game winner as despite Cowan's efforts in net with a 34 save performance, the Chiefs five game winning streak was snapped with the 2-1 loss in Saskatoon. Spokane put up a season low 21 shots and the one shot in the third was the fewest in a period this season. The Chiefs had scored just three goals in their first two games of the eastern trip and were hoping to turn that around as the team headed to Regina for game three on Sunday afternoon.
The Chiefs had won four of the last five against the Pats, including a 5-2 victory in Spokane in February. The team's lone loss was their last trip to Regina in December of 2022 when the Chiefs coughed up a 3-0 lead in the second in a 4-3 shootout loss. Regina was coming off a convincing 4-1 win over Swift Current at home Friday and were sitting in third place in the east coming into Sunday's tilt. Dawson Cowan was back in net for the Chiefs, but the Pats went on the power play just over four minutes into the game and scored 23 seconds into the man advantage to take a quick 1-0 lead. Spokane countered as Rasmus Ekstrom scored 1:20 later on a backhand to even the game at 1-1. Regina retook the lead on a rebound with just over six minutes left in the first to go up 2-1 but the Chiefs answered again as Shea Van Olm scored on a breakaway at 17:34 to send the game to the second tied at 2-2.
In the second period Spokane would take their first lead of the game as Hayden Paupanekis scored his second goal of the season nine minutes into the middle frame to put the Chiefs ahead 3-2. Regina would go on the power play four minutes later but the Chiefs would kill it off and then go up 4-2 as Van Olm would notch his second goal of the game on a breakaway on Berkly Catton's 3rd assist of the contest at the 14 minute mark. Regina would outshoot the Chiefs 14-2 in the third and would draw within 4-3 on a breakaway goal 4:13 into the final period. Spokane would shut out the Pats the rest of the way though as Cowan turned away 13 of 14 shots in the third and 26 shots total as the Chiefs won their second game of three on the eastern swing with a 4-3 victory.
With the win, the Chiefs moved to 7-2 and with 14 points Spokane moved into a tie with Everett for first place in the U.S. Division and the Western Conference. Spokane is now halfway through their eastern trip as they will play the final three games this week before heading home. The Chiefs will play at defending league champion Moose Jaw on Tuesday at 6 p.m. PT and then head to Brandon on Wednesday at 5 p.m. PT. The trip will finish in Swift Current Friday night at 6 p.m. PT. I'll have the call on 103.5 FM the Game and 1510 AM KGA with the pre-game shows at 5:30 pm PT on Tuesday and Friday and at 4:30pm PT on Wednesday. Let's hope the Chiefs continue their winning ways and we hope to see you on the radio!
